Have anything changed?
by nymphadora026
Summary: All the gang have grown, they're on the edge of the thirties. They're life seems to have changed but is it really the case? Total LoVe with some Duncan/Veronica friendship.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, first, I haven't saw the third season so, lets based this story upon the second season (So, yes, Logan and Veronica are still together). Please, read and review.**

Three in the morning, the phone rand throughout all the house. Who could it be at this time of the night? Slowly, Veronica sit up on her bed and grabbed the phone next to her. She answered, half asleep. Next to her, Logan tuned to his side and put the pillow on his head to cover up the noise.

"Hello?"

"Sheriff Mars! You have to come, it's an emergency!" a very freaked out officer answered her.

"D'you know what time it is, officer Breslin?" she heard little footstep in her back. All this noise had woken up her 8 years old daughter. She covered the phone with her hand and tuned to the little girl. "I'm sorry if I've waken you up, honey. Why don't you crawl up and sleep with your father, okay, I've got things to do."

The little girl nodded and crawled silently into her parents's bed. Logan, who had give up on going back to sleep, cuddled her. Veronica returned to her call. At the time, two years ago, when she was named sheriff, she thought it was nice. She was, and still is, the youngest person to be name sheriff at Neptune, she was 26 at the time. She soon realized it wasn't the dream job, specially with a young kid and when your boyfriend is often out of the city to shoot movies... Eventhough he didn't want to follow his father's path, Logan started to make movies when the young woman found herself pregnant. The inheritance from his mother and his father could've helped few years but not more and it was the only way they could think of.

"So, what it so important that you have to wake me at three in the morning, Breslin?" She took her phone and left the room, leaving a chance to the two others to get back to sleep.

"We've got a murder case, at the 3454 St-Paul street. The victim is Heather Taylor, 38. She was shot at least four times in the chest." Veronica let out a little gasp.

"Oh my god..."

"What?" She was shaking a little.

"Heather Taylor, I knew her. Her son's in the same class than Lilly." She remembered Heather, she was the only parent of all the ones who's kids were in Lilly's class that hadn't give her a dirty look or pass commentaries about her young age. She remembered her kind, smiling face, surrounded by her long dark hair. Then, she thought about the little boy she left alone behind her, Noah. He was one of Lilly's main friend. The voice of her officer brang her back on earth.

"Sheriff? Are you there?"

"Huh.. yes. I.. I want you to try to look for the gun or wathever else could help us. I'm comming as soon as possible"

"Good." She closed her cellphone and stay on place few seconds, still stunned by the news. Another death, another friend of her, dissapeard off the surface of the earth. After her time of reflextion, she went back to her bedroom, to change clothes. She quietly opened her drawer and took the first clothes she saw. She quickly removed her nightgown and put her clothes on. When she was about to leave the room, Logan called her.

"Where are you going like that, in the middle of the night?" He sat up on the bed and looked at her, not totally awaken. She move closer to him and murmured.

"Emergency case... murder... I'll try to be home before Lilly leaves for school but it might take a while." She bent and kissed him quickly and left the house.à

**I know, short, but it's only the introduction of my story. if you liked it, review, please.**


	2. Chapter 2

Veronica headed toward her sergeant. She was trying to look confident, as if it was only another case, but her legs were shaking and she could barely walk straight. The crime scene was similar to the one she saw 12 years sooner, when her life fell apart. The Heather's body was lying close to her pool but instead of having her head bashed, she got shot in the chest. The impact of the bullets were close together, next to the heart. The shooter was precise, that was for sure. She bent over the body but couldn't look for so long, her head started to buzz and she felt nauseous. She looked at the officer Breslin next to her.

"So, any luck to find the weapon?" Of course they hadn't but she just wanted to take her eyes off her friend's cadaver. Then, her eye catched the crying face of Mr. Taylor. No member of her team had bother to stay with him, which was, in her opinion, unconceivable. she didn't bother to wait for her officer's answer and headed to the man. Mr. Taylor was appart from everyone, Noah in his arms. The young boy didn't quite catch what was hapenning and his father was crying silently. Veronica walked carefully toward him.

"Mr. Taylor?" He didn,t heard her. "Liam..." He turned his wet face to her.

"What did she done so wrong to deserve this? As far as I remember, she never made anything wrong." She could hear all the rage and sadness in his voice. Noah turned his puzzeld face to her.

"Mrs. Mars, what hapenned to my mom?" She gently took him from his father's arm and headed inside. She sat down with him in the kitchen and Mr. Tylor did the same.

"I don't know, sweetheart. That's why I'm here for, and I swear I'll found out."

"She,s dead, isn't she?" his eyes were filling with tears. All his fears were true. Veronica hold him tighter, she was acting as if he was her own kid, as if he was Lilly.

"Yes... yes sweetheart, she is." the reality of what hapened hit her. She would never see her again, Heather would vanished out of her life, just like Lilly Kane did. few tears started rolling down her cheeks. By the time, the sobbing of the little boy stopped. He fell asleep. Liam noticed too and stood up. He took his son and lie him on the couch. He cam back at the table and stared at Veronica.

"You'd better let him skip school today." The man simply nod.

"Shouldn't you be outside, sneaking into my wife's dead body?"

"I'm waiting for updates, I thought it wasn't a good idea to let you alone. And, for now, we can't do much... except looking for the weapon... which is nowhere near." The moment she ended her sentence, one of her deputy entered in a hurry.

"Sheriff, you should take a look at this!" She throw a glare at her friend's husband but he was looking down to his shoes. She followed the deputy outside, where all her team was gathering. When they saw her, all the men made way. It was weird, sometimes, working with only boys. Once, a new deputy even flirted with her, until he realised she was dating one of the most famous actor of the planet and had a kid.  
Has he walked toward the spot, she felt some looks on her but, which wasn't usually that visible in her Sheriff uniform. Usually she would've turned around and teach them a lesson but now, her head was buzzing, with adrenaline. Veronica spotted what her men wanted her to see, on the floor, there were some human steps in the dirt, but it wasn't shoes print, but bare foot. She bent to observe them closer but found nothing more than foot prints.

"Breslin, make a copy of those. Finn, Shepherd, Sloan, keep searching for the weapon or losts bullet. Addams, Buckman, Granger, bring the body to the morgue and get it analyzed more carefuly. Other, we'll go to the departement. Go!" Everyone started moving around her, but she didn't know if it was her imagination but they seemed to go too fast. She manage to get herself to her car.  
She felt sorry to leave Liam alone by this time but it was nessessary. For the two years she'd been sheriff, she never had a case like that one, so dark and bloody. She seldom thought of the day she'll have to solve a murder or something like this but it was ten time worse than what she imagined. She never planned it'll be someone she knew, nor that it would look so much like Lilly all over again. She never thought it be easy either but just... different.

They spent the night trying to get further in the case but all the info they had weren't helpful. Heather Taylor, born Huston, 38, married to Liam Taylor, one son, Noah, 8. She owns a cosmetic enterprise... That was it. Even if they turned the informations upside down, no hint or clues about who would want to kill a so perfect wife nor why. At nine in the morning they all were released but had to came back for noon.  
Veronica walked slowly through the door, exhausted. She hung her coat in the closet, as usually.

"I'm back." She said. She heard heavy footstep comming from upstair and saw her boyfriend walking down the stairs. He headed toward her and grab her waist.

"I was getting worried. What hapenned?" Because she was tired, and exhausted, she broke into tears. She fell on his chest, burrying her head on his sweater, impreigning herself of his scent, to be sure he was still here. All her life seemed so unreal right now, as if this luxurious house, her life with Logan or her perfect little girl were all a dream, a fantasy, that may vanish in a blink of an eye. Surprised by her reaction, Logan stayed few moments not moving. He finally manage to think about what to do and held her tighter, patting her long, curly, blond hair. When she finally stop crying, he cupped her face in his hand, drying her cheeks with his thumbs.

"Better now?" Sje simply nodded


	3. Chapter 3

Veronica wa dreaming. She was at the beach with Logan and their daughter who was playing in the water. In her dream, Veronica closed her eyes for a second but when she opened them, something had changed. The beach was deserted and Lilly wasn't in the water anymore. She lift her head to look at Logan but it wasn't him, it was his father. She got up quickly, panicked, and Aaron looked at her, smiling.

"Where's Lilly?" She asked. He just grinned wider and she understood something was wrong. She glanced around her and found her daughter's body on the sand, her head bashed, next to Logan's dead body. She looked at Aaron, who was up, scared.

"She didn't want to see her grandpa. What a shame." He moved toward her, still grinning. The blond girl started to run but he grabbed her so tight that she couldn't move. She was about to scream when she finally woke up, sweating. Her head was resting on Logan's lap and he looked down at her, worried.

"Lilly!" she managed to say while she was panting. He help her to sit up.

"She's at school." She turned her head at him, surprised. She wasn't fully aware of the real world around her, still stuck in her awful nightmare.

"Logan?"

"Who else can I be?" Releived, she clung her arms around his neck, resting her head on his chest. She juste realized it all had been a dream. He slowly put his hand on her forehead.

"You're still burning, go back to sleep." She frowned.

"Why 'still'? Which day are we?" she was lost. Weren't they the 20th of November, date of Heather Taylor's murder?

"We're the 30th of November and you're sick since a week so, now, go back to sleep." She rested her head on his laps again, wondering what hapened, trying to remember the lest ten days of her life. Slowly, her memory went back.

*******_Flashback*****_*

_**November 21st**_

It was 10:00 and the sheriff office was pretty empty. Only Veronica and some nightwatch deputies were left. The blond girl was bend over some paper. She read them already a few times, notes on Heather, anything they could get bout her. Still nothing made sense to the young Sheriff. She drank another sip of her coffee, to maintain her awake.

**_November 22nd_**

Veronica was in the interogatory room with Heather's assistant at the company. She spent the whole night reading the paper and some her eyes were closing alone, so she took another coffee. There were no reason she couldn't go through the day. It was her job. She'll find her friend's killer, even if it meant not to sleep for a week.

_**November 23rd**_

New information about Heather had come in, so Veronica armed herself with another coffee and sat down at her office, ready to spend another night without sleep, reading and re-reading the documents, trying to make sense with it. She felt her burning face but didn't do anything about it. The sooner she'd ended this case, the sooner she'd be home to her daughter and Logan.

_**November 24th**_

Deputy Breslin came into his boss's office with a cup of coffee for her, but he found her asleep on her desk. He carefully put his hand to her boiling fronthead and dialed her house's number.

"Hello, Mr. Echolls? It's Deputy Breslin. I think Mrs. Mars is sick, you should come take her. She's asleep on her desk and boiling, she haven't sleep for three days... We'll wait for you. thanks."

*******_End of the flashback_*******

Veronica looked up at Logan, who was gently caressing her back.

"A week? But who's taking care of the case." that was all she was thinking about, wasn't it?

"Don't worry, they handle it pretty well without you."

"How could I forget a week in my life?" that was still the mystery. She remembered the three days before she was brought home but the rest was like a black hole in her memory.

"You slept most of the time... and that's what you should be doing right now." Frustrated, she brushed away his hand and stood up. She couldn't stand to be away from her work, specially when it was so important. She stared Logan down.

"Stop acting like if I was a 6-years-old! I can take care of myself. See, I'm not even sick anymore." but just at the moment, she felt dizzy and cold and fell back on the couch. She got up too soon. He stare blankly at her, but she could see he was repressing a litlle "I told you so". She took the blanket and put it around her shoulder but she was still shaking.

"I'm cold." she simply added, looking at her boyfriend.

"And? You're not a 6-years-old, you can take care of yourself, can you?" Yes, he knew he was a littly overprotective, he always was, but she got used to it, and it was fun to see. She sigh.

"Fine, I am a 6-years-old. Happy?" he grinned.

"Yop."

"Now, warm me!" He moved closer and held her in his arm.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, so, in my story, there'll be a lot of Lilly so, lets clarifies it right now, will you? So, we have, of course, the usual Lilly Kane who I'll use in some flashback and whe Veronica talks about her, of course. Then, we have Lilly Lynn Echolls, Logan and Veronica's daughter. I'll be mostly thinking about her when I'll say only Lilly. And, at the end, we have Lilly Meg Kane, Duncan's Daughter. Her nicknames are Lilly M or Meggie so there is no confusion...**

Veronica was making dinner when her daughter came into the kitchen, pale faced.

"Mommy, I'm not feeling great." Usually, Veronica would have told her to go see Logan but he wasn't home for the next months. She left her food on the fire and turned to her daughter.

"You sure don't look good. Why don,t you lie down? I'll be here in a moment."

"But I'm really going to be sick" The young woman didn't have the time to answer that the littlt girl threw up on the kitchen floor.

"Oh god! Are you okay honey?" the little girl nodded negatively and bend her head to throw up a second time. Then, the smoke dectector went on and Veronica realized her food was on fire.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" she repeated while moving the pan and throwing water on it. Well, she'll have to eat pizza again.

"Mom..." said Lilly in a weak voice. Veronica understood the urge to prevent the puddle of barf to get bigger and put a bowl under her girl's head. Yeah, this day would definitely suck... And it had to be a day when she was alone. She helped Lilly up and lie her on the couch. Just when she got up to clean the kitchen, the phone rang. She foolishly thought it could be Logan but it wasn't.

"Sheriff. You have to get down to the office."

"Sloan, it's saturday... plus, I'm kind of in a rush right now... can I call you later?"

"No. We received an anonymous tip call about the Taylor murder case..." She freezed in the middle of the corridor. Then, the door bell rang. Damn it, it really wasn't a good day. Of course, these thing never hapenned when Logan was home.

"Mom... there's someone at the door.."

"I know, sweetheart."she said, covering the phone. "Listen, Sloan, I'll try my best to come but really, today isn't the good time." She hung up and ran to the door. She let out a little surprised gasp when she opened the door.

"Duncan?! Hey!"

"Hello Veronica!" they hugged quickly. She glanced at the young 11 yeard old next to him.

"Look how you've grown, Meggie!" she hugged quickly the young girl but was interrupt when her own daughter showed up under her. "No! Lilly, I told you to stay on the couch."

"But I wanted to see who it was." she pleaded, weakly. Veronica took her in her arms and gave a sign with her haed to Duncan to follow her inside.

"Yes, and I told you to lie still, sweetheart. You're sick." She put Lilly back on the couch and brought the covers to her chin. "Now, try to sleep."

"Is it a bad time?" asked Duncan. "Because we can come back tomorow if you prefer..." She took the mop from the broom closet.

"Non, not a bad time. Just busy, you know me, I'm a busy little bee."

"Where's Logan?" he asked.

"You see, that's the problem. Where's Logan freaking Echolls! Where is he while I'm burning my kitchen, cleaning out our girl's barf and having a murder crisis at work? Why, in Canada shooting another movie!" She sounded hysterical, both mad and on the edge of crying. Duncan took her by the shoulder.

"Wooo, relax." he took the mop from her hand. "Let me clean this while you call him, okay? Meggie is going to take some pizza and go by the sheriff departement to take the information you need... okay?" she nodded. He was right... she was a little tensed.

"Give me a minute." she said to Duncan's daughter. She went in another room and came back with cash for the pizza and a piece of paper with questions about the anonymous tip call signed by her to be sure the officer will believe Meggie's story. "thanks... to both of you." Then, she sat on the couch, at her daughter's feet, putting them on her lap and rubbing them gently. She took the phone next to her and dialed Logan's cell number. No answer. She then dialed stressfully the hotel number.

"Hi, can I talk to Logan Echolls, please." she asked.

"Sorry, Mrs, no one is registered with that name." Of course, he always change his name so nobody else could join him. She sigh. Usually he took name of important person in his life.

"Then, do you have a... um... Cassidy Casablancas?" the first name that came to her head... what were the chance that it would actually be that?

"Yes, I'll put you through." her eyes grew bigger...

"How do you manage to put up with all this when he's out of town?" Duncan asked from the kitchen, while she waited for her boyfriend.

"It's not alway like that. I try no to make a habitude out of burning down my house... plus it's my first murder case, so, I'm a little struggling here..." finallly, someone pick the phone at the other side of the line.

"Hello?" eventhought she wanted to shout at him right now, blame him for not being here, Veronica decided to play another way.

"Hey baby." she said, sweetly.

"Veronica?"

"No, it's Anna, from Hawaii. You don't remember our wild night? Yeah, it's me. Who other did you wanted it to be?"

"You're not funny."

"Am so! So, how was your day?" she asked, as sweetly as sooner.

"Good... How was yours?" he was suspicious, it wasn't Veronica's kind to just call and ask how was his day.

"Wonderful! My boyfriend's out of town for, like, a months, Lilly's throwing up every where, I burned the supper, we received an anonymous tip call for the Taylor case and Duncan came by for a surprise. I don't see how my life could be better!"she was working hard to keep her voice as sweet as possible but Logan noticed the madness behind it.

"Oh, damn, I'm sorry for you... I... I'm really sorry, but I can't do anything."

"No problem, di I asked you anything anyway? I understand, you're busy, so am I." she said, angrily. She hang the phone without saying goodbye.

"That wasn't the kindess thing to do..." said Duncan in her back. "I mean, he tries, Veronica. It's as hard as you for him to be away, even harder."

"How do you know that? How do you know he's not partying with random women?" she spit. Duncan too a seat on the other couch, careful not to wake the little girl.

"Because he loves you... more than I ever loved you."

"So? Your father loves you mother and he had an affair with mine. How do I know he's not exactly like his father?" She knew he wasn't but right now, she was not in the mood and had to spit her venom on someone. "I'm not even sure he'd still be with me if we hadn't had a kid."

"Now, that's just silly talk and you know it. I never seem people so in love after all these years than you two so you'll call him back, apologies and tell him how much you love him." she didn't move, she was staring grumpilly at her feet. "Right now!" he commanded. Reluctantly, she took the phon and redialed the hotel number. As surprising as it might look, Veronica always obei to Duncan's orders. She saw a little of Lilly in him and it was like a subconcious way to prove she'd never forget her.

"Hello?" his voice sounded sad... A sudden rush of guilt passed into Veronica's body. She looked up at Duncan who gestured toward the phone, inciting her to answer.

"Sorry I've been harsh..." her voice was little and sorry. Yeah... no doubt who it was.

"It's okay, babe. I really wish I could be with you guys. I'll try to get out of here as soon as I can, okay?"

"Love you." she muttered, shy under Duncan insistant gaze.

"Love you too. Hey, um, could I talk to Duncan?"

"Sure." She handed the phone to the young man behind her. At that moment, the little girl turned to her mother. Veronica was clever, and as soon as she saw her daughter's eyes opened, she reached for the bowl and handed it to her. It really was going to be a hell of a week... Duncan hung up the phone and clap his hands together.

"Well guess who's staying over to watch after you?" he said merilly.

"Oh my god! Did Logan send Leonardo Di Caprio? That's awesome!"

"No, smarty pants! How many guest rooms do you have in here, anyways?" he always came for visits, he never stayed over the night. That would be the first time.

"That's sweet of you but I don't want you guys to catch Lilly's sickness." he threw himself on the couch next to her and circled her shoulder with his arms... in a friendly way, of course.

"Hey! I promise my best buddy I'll take care of his girl, and I usually keep my promises." she sight.

"We have four rooms, so you and Meggie will have both yours."


End file.
